News Archaeology

Ancient Scythians had cultural roots in Siberia

A royal tomb points to eastern influences on Eurasia’s Scythian horse riders

A horse mandible and a bronze stirrup in dirt

This horse mandible and a bronze stirrup were unearthed from a 2,800-year-old royal tomb in Siberia. These and other artifacts hint the burial may have included a ritual in which sacrificed servants and horses were propped up on the tomb as “spectral riders.”

Trevor Wallace

By Bruce Bower

Horse-riding Scythian herders and warriors, who inhabited Central Asia and Eastern Europe around 2,500 years ago, may have had cultural roots several thousand kilometers to the east in Siberia, a new study suggests (SN: 7/27/23).